


Only the best

by BertoMiccio



Series: Keeping up with the Warrens [1]
Category: High School Story (Visual Novel)
Genre: Custody Arrangements, Daddy Issues, Divorce, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family Drama, Gen, Mommy Issues, Neglect, Popularity, Post-Divorce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26486800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BertoMiccio/pseuds/BertoMiccio
Summary: The divorce was already bad enough for Max and Mia, they definetely didn't needed the rest.
Relationships: Kara Sinclair/Max Warren, Max Warren & Mia Warren
Series: Keeping up with the Warrens [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925560
Comments: 5
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is appreciated! Uwu.

They didn't hear much of anything from upstairs. The coversation their parents had before mom walked out of the house is still a mystery. Did they shared any emotive last words or something of the sort? Mom would want to, for sure, but Dad would most likely ice her out then and there, if she tried. But Max and Mia want to believe so, once they hear the door close, and mom's car running outside. Is not like you can just throw fifteen years of marriage to the trash just like that. 

Right? 

The next day at Hearts, during training, Max plays lazily at the field, stomping from one way to the other like a semi-authomatic poppet. 

"Warren?! What is the matter with you? Focus!" Their coach yelled from the sidelines. He stopped mid-running. 

_Focus Max, come on! You're better than this._

No matter what he was thinking or feeling, or what he thought he had to do. He just couldn't be there. So he walked to the sidelines, and invented a quick excuse. 

"Coach, I'm sorry, but while I was playing I remembered that I really have to pick Mia up from an appointment at the doctor's office." 

"What about your folks?" 

"They can't today. I promise you is a one time thing." 

The coach gave him a mildly irritated growl, but let him go. He only lets his golden player skip like that. 

He does have to do something however. Be at home, with Mia. 

Mia told dad that she felt weak, and really tired that morning. It was always harder for her to lie to dad, he always seems to be more vigilant of her mischiefs, moreso than Max's. It didn't matter now. She already had a couple of bad days before, doctors even said she was anemic, and well... her parents _did_ literally got separated yesterday, so with those things combined, for once, daddy dearest was able to put himself on her heels. 

"Fine Mia, just for today, you'll rest. But I'll need you full speed tomorrow, is that clear?"

"Of course dad, I will."

Her dad looked like he was gonna say something. He eyes soften and looked to the ground for a moment. He quickly stood straight, looking invulnerable once again. 

"Alright, I'm going now. See you later." And he was gone. Damn. Mia got excited for a second. She almost had a casual talk with her father. 

Her brother showed up that afternoon, before football practice was over. 

"Hey." He said, throwing his football bag over the sofa, before sitting down besides her. 

"Hey." 

The were silent for a moment. What could they say? What could they talk about? They rarely talked about deep shit, and is not like there was something to say, everything was crystal clear. 

Mia laughed quietly to her insides. 

"What?" Max asked. 

"Remember when we went on a vacation to the Caribbean for your 12th birthday?" 

"Yeah..." 

"Mom almost, like, dies. Remember? The following morning, after she and dad arranged that small party in the reception?" 

"Oh yes. Lovely memory." Max said sarcastically. 

"She had so much to drink she didn't even slept. She went to the lodge's balcony, and fell into the pool. She totally would have drowned if we hadn't been up already and heard the water." Mia said, sounding almost alarmed. 

"And if that good looking dude didn't knew reanimation techniques... She always' been the wild type. Have you ever wondered how did someone like dad and someone like her decided to get married?" 

Mia tried to think for a second. It was a dumb question, right? Why wouldn't she know or at least wonder about something so fundamental about her even existing, like the reasons her parents were together in the first place. 

"I have no clue." She said, actually shocked. 

That's the thing, isn't it? You never really question those fundamental aspects. You just accept them for what they are, until they change or start being some sort of inconvenience. 

The next two weeks after that went normal, really. Max put his focus on football once again. Acting the part of the school star, taking away the losers' lunch, stomping on Julian Castillo's ambitions of becoming quarterback, and throwing massive parties on the weekends. 

Mia goes back with all the fuel to been Kara's right hand, helping her scheme big and complicated social attacks on girls she finds either annoying or threatening, looking pretty and demure at social events, and throwing massive parties on the weekends.

Word went around town about the divorce, of course. Lots of different people asked them how they were doing, offering to help in any way they could. They always smiled cheekely, throwing around the same speeches of thinking that is for the better, that they're glad for their parents, and that their mom had met a really rich dude that promised to take them to a tour around Europe. 

All lies, of course. Kara Sinclair was the only one that could tell, evidently. 

"Max, I wanna support you throughout this. I _will,_ in fact. Even if you don't want to." She said in his ear, after finding him washing his face roughly in the bathroom, desperately wanting to stop his eyes from watering. 

He takes his time to feel her sculpted nails caressing his naked back. Her perfume feeling his lungs when she hugs him, telling him that is all okay. 

They end up fucking furiously against the sink. It was much better to sleep with the hottest girl at school than crying with her. 

In the living room, Mia is dancing with a hot guy, a junior she thinks. They grind on each other following the music. He gets very handsy very quick. And she lets him do whatever (within reason) because there's nothing she loves more than the jealousy in the girls' faces, or the look of desire in the boys'. 

Perhaps the exciment and risk of hot sex in a crowded party, or the exciment of being envied and desired at the same time would make this two forget about how wrong everything seems, how scared they are, and how they barely heard of their mom in this two weeks. 

And the next week after that is the worst. 

"I want a round of applause for Julian, your new wide receiver!" Said the coach, prompting cheers and pats in the back from all the guys in the team. Max also congratulates him, trying to mask his discontent. 

The guy is getting too good for his taste. It doesn't help that he heard the rumors about some people saying he's even better than Max.

"Ugh, is just that your brother is _the_ best, you know? In all the important ways." Kara says to Mia, smiling wickedly. Mia wanted to literally kill her, putting her in the spot like that. And for fucking her brother, of course. She always loved to provoke her, so she isn't surprised. Kara wanted Max for a while now.

"Oh gorg I know. He's a Warren, after all. We're _naturals_ at being the best. I'm glad he haves you now, though. In this challenging time of his life. How _timely_ of you." Mia punched back, flipping her blonde locks, not for a second looking away. 

"Of course sweetie. I only want the best for him." Kara said, a slight irritation crossing her soft features. 

Of course you want the best, _gold digging cunt._

_"_ I have good news, kids. There would be no custody battle. We can finally put the divorce business to rest, and move on." Their father announces at dinner, that day. 

The siblings looked at each other, both wondering if the other heard that. 

"Wait, but... how is everything gonna be from now on? When are we going to see mom?" Max asked. 

"Well, since she granted me full custody of you two, in the weekends. That is until she moves to the Caribbean." 

Mia chokes in her white wine. 

" _What?_ " They both ask in unison. 

"Well yes. She's gonna move to be with a man she knew there... but you can go on the holidays, or vacations." He took a sip of his wine, and continued eating as normal. 

"And... and when where she was gonna tell us? And for how long have you known?" Mia asks, standing up impetuously. 

"Mia, lower your voice, at once, and face the facts. _Both_ of you." He said firmly. 

"And what are the _facts_ dad? Please enlight us." Max interviened, straighting his posture and throwing cold, glaring daggers to his father. He always looked and sounded like Mr Warren when got really angry. 

"The facts, Maxwell, are the following: your mother was, is, and will forever be a _loser,_ a failure, in all fronts. So, as far as I'm concerned, she did us a favor. She's out of the way. Now, enough of this tantrum." 

Everything was blurry after that point, except for a moment, at Max's room. He was sitting in bed, with Mia's head over his knees. He wanted to cry, but couldn't. He envied her. 


	2. The Warren Way

Max and Mia don't cry. Like at all, ever. 

The one time Max cried, he was just seven. He had a nasty fall while riding a bicycle. While his tears rolled down his cheeks, he saw his father walking his way. Max, in his child-like naivety, thought he came to hold him, and tell him everything was okay. 

"Daddy I've got blood in my knee ple-" His request was interrupted by his father's palm crushing on his face with a sharp noise.

"Don't cry, Maxwell. Suck up the pain." He said, hiding his impertinent fury behind that distant, icy demenour of his. 

"But... it hurts a lot Daddy." Max said, calmer now, whipping his tears away so his Dad didn't have to see them anymore. 

"It doesn't matter. You're a Warren. Us Warrens don't cry. Did I made myself clear?" 

"Yes... yes Dad." 

Mia, who was nearby playing with her dolls in the grass, watched the scene. 

That night, she visited her older brother in his bedroom. As she had thought, he was still awake, looking at himself in front of his big mirror.

"Max, you okay?" She asked, almost as a whisper.

"Come here Mia." He said, still looking at his own reflection. 

"What are you doing?" His sister asks, now standing beside him. 

"Practicing The Face." He explained. 

"The Face? What face?" 

"It's something Mommy showed me, today, after Daddy reprimanded me in our gardens." He then proceded to make his face expression as blank as possible, except for a slight, almost inexistent smirk, Mona Lisa-like. 

"See?" Max asks. 

"See what?" Mia asks, now irritated. 

"My face, dummy! Mommy says that if we make that face, no one is gonna know what we're thinking." 

"Seriously? That's... cool!" The little girl said, her face suddenly lighting up. They both practiced The Face for a while, helping each other do it. 

A Warren doesn't cry. 

It was late in the afternoon. Mia had just entered the living room, dressed with her freshman cheerleader outfit. She saw her parents and Max sitting in their large, white, corporate dinner table, looking up to her awkwardly. 

"Okay. Sorry I'm back so late, but Brenda, like, totally messed up her ankle and we had to..." Mia goes quiet when once she sees her Mother's luggage and purses at the bottom of the stairs. She looks down, reppresing a frown, who was already demanding a place in her face. 

"Mia, sit down please." Her Father asks. She silently makes her way besides her brother, who is looking down at the table, his expression as empty as the rest of them. 

Her parents spend the next half hour explaining that Mom is gonna move out, and there are gonna be certain schedule changes once the divorce settlements are done with. Their family was falling apart, and their parents talked about it like it was a subject in a business meeting. In that same fashion, Max and Mia stoically exchange some words with their parents, asking a couple of questions and giving certain opinions on the situation. Not that it matters, once their parents make a decision, it is what it is, no turning back. 

They go upstairs, to Max's room. Mia sits on his bed, trying to start the process of understanding what just happened. Max stands in front of his mirror, watching himself, his fists starting to shake. 

"They were having issues, but... how could this happen?" Mia asks perplexed.

And suddenly, a big shattering can be heard. The sound of glass exploding and falling to the ground. Mia looks up, only to find that his strong fist went through the mirror. 

"I'm bleeding." Max simply said. 

Mia exhaled, and stood up elegantly from the bed. 

"I'll go get the first aid kit. And call Marissa so she cleans up that mess." 

A Warren isn't weak.

Max starts noticing that Mia is escaping various meals, and being super tired, and getting thiner and thiner as the weeks go by. She was also a lot more restraint. She didn't speak to him like she used to, and she even broke up with her boyfriend, and she didn't wanted to tell him why. Not that she was that invested in him, but still. 

But the day she collapsed, everything made sense. And Max felt like an absolute idiot. Her little sister was driving herself to an early grave and he didn't do anything to stop it. He knew that the divorce was more rough on her that she let on, but he didn't knew it would go this far. 

Except, that it wasn't everything. 

"I think... I think that I might..." She tried to say, being unable to look at him in the eye. 

"Mia, is okay... just talk to your brother, would you?" 

"Gay. I'm think... I'm gay." 

"Oh... really?" Max asked. The revelation coming to him as a shock. All though, does lady suits Mia has laying around in her closet should had been a clue. 

"Yes, really." Their Father says, entering the Hospital room. 

"You know?" Max asked, surprised as to how collected Mr Warren is. 

"Yes, she told your Mother earlier. But it's okay, we can use this. There's lots of news outlets that would love to make notes about athletes with your sister's... preferences. Once you're well Mia, we'll contact some of them so they can give you interviews." He informed her.

"Dad, I think is a little soon for Mia, maybe we should-" Max is interrupted by his sister. 

"Is okay Max. I'll do it. Like Dad says, we can use this." Max stared at her in doubt, but she look sure. 

"That's my daughter." Mr Warren says, grinning. 

In truth, it is too soon for Mia, but she doesn't want to see the dissapoinment in her Father's eyes anymore. The dissapoinment hidden behind his grey eyes. Because she let herself be weak, let herself fall. 

A Warren always comes up on top.

After that whole ordeal, Mia starts to change. She starts hanging out with those losers at Berry High, being more defiant with Dad, and focusing a lot of her energy in cheerleading, more so than before. Until one infamous day, she tells Dad that she isn't going to Hearts anymore, that she wants to go to Berry High. 

"The first Warren not to attend Hearts High... how dare you do this to me? To our family?" Dad asks, defiantly. 

"This is not about about our family, or you, or anyone else but me! I found people there, good, loyal people! Unlike those bimbos from Hearts." 

"What can those peasants give you that your girlfriends at Hearts can't?" 

"A real friendship. I had enough of playing pretend with them, with Mom, with you. I've been pretending all my life. I'm sick of it." 

"I knew since that day, at the Hospital, that you were going to dissapoint me one day. That you didn't had what it takes to be a part of this family, cracking under pressure like this, just like your Mother." 

Mr Warren was looking for blood, and he made it. Mia went upstairs, covering her face in shame. 

"You better not dissapoint me like this too, Maxwell. Stay in line with this family." 

Max had so much to say. 

'You don't love us! You love what you think we are. If you wanted brainless followers, you should had got dogs, not have children.' 

"Of course not that. There's no chance." Max said. 

A Warren never steps out of line.


	3. Dynamics

The invitation didn't sat entirely well on Mia when she first received it. Sure, it's nice to actually get to see Max, now that both of them are away in their respective colleges, but she also knows what she should expect. 

And she's out of practice. 

Syd hugged her from behind, removed her blond locks and kissed her neck gently. 

"It's gonna be fine." She reassured her. 

Of course Syd knows how she feels... is in moments like this that she realizes how warm it feels inside when someone acknowledges her feelings. And how little she's used to that too. After two years with her, it still amazes Mia. 

The blonde turned around and robbed the brunette a peck. 

"I know gorg. It's just... my family is what it is, and also Sinclair is gonna be there." She spat the last name with contempt. Why her brother was still with her, went beyond her. 

"Don't worry, she's gonna behave, I'm sure of it. Besides, nobody beats my girlfriend wits wise." Sydney said, laughing sweetly. 

That made Mia feel the confidence she was lacking spread in her chest. 

"I love you, you know that, right?" 

"Yep, I sure do." 

They shared a deep kiss, and then kept packing their stuff, and leaving their dorm. 

They would be having brunch at her grandparents' state. An elegant villa with a giant lake for a backyard.

Mia could already hear grandma's fake laugh from behind the big, oak door. 

"Oh, little Mia!" The maid said, embracing her in a bear hug with her thick viking arms. 

"Hi Elsa, nice to see you!" She returned the hug, trying not to lose her breath. 

"And this must be the precious thing that stole my Mia's heart." She said grandly, hugging the girl with the same fervor.

"Nice to meet you at last." Sydney said. 

"The same to you child, aren't you just lovely?" 

"Thank you!" 

Mia's grandma appeared at the door. 

"Elsa, enough with the warm, you're gonna roast the girls to death! You can go serve the appetizers." She said, trying to hide her annoyance under a forced smile. 

"Yes Ms Warren, right away." Elsa said, slightly intimidaded. 

"Hi grams."

"Hi sweetly." The blowed a quick kiss on each other.

"Oh, look at those cheekbones! You look more and more like me everytime I see you. Delightful!" Her icy eyes settled on Sydney. 

"And you must be Cindy!" 

"Mmm Sydney, actually. And yeah, it's me!" The brunette said peppily, shaking hands with the older woman. 

"Skin like fine china! Foreign people always get it the best." 

Oh, grandmother. 

"Oh, well thank you, I guess." Sydney answered awkwardly, trying to smile as much as possible. 

They came in, and went straight to the gardens. There they were, Mr Warren, his father, Max and Kara, talking softly and smiley. 

"Mia honey, finally gracing us with your presence." Kara said, kissing her cheek cooly and politely. 

"So good to see you gorg!" Mia followed the courtesies. 

"Hi, long lost sister. Long time no see." Max said, waiting for her to hug him in his chair.

"Hi dummy." Mia said sweetly, hugging him with authentic bliss. She couldn't help but notice that he looked... rough. His beard was out of control, and he gained weight noticebly. He seemed really tired. 

"Elizabeth! Is that you? How do you look so young all of the sudden?" Max and Mia's grandfather asked, getting flustered all of the sudden. 

"Stop that. For God's sakes that's your grandchild, you oaf." His wife said, getting quickly annoyed. Mia smiled pithily to him, and he just stared at her, eyes wide open. He had been confusing Mia and her grandma since he got Alzheimers, the poor thing. 

"So mom isn't coming, right dad?" Max asked, listless, and dissapointed. 

"No Maxwell, I told you. You know how she is." He said dryly, taking a sip from his martini.

Mia's face fell a little. Sydney grabbed her hand instinctly, checking her out. The blonde offered her a smile, not wanting her to worry. She later looked at Max with knowing and shared thoughts. He just rolled his eyes. 

"It's hardly surprising." Her grandma said, with barely restraint contempt. 

They started eating and drinking. They did the typical small talk, regarding college, Hearts, and... nothing else. They didn't have that much fuel for conversations. 

"So, Kara, how are your parents doing?" Max and Mia's father asked, their grandma suddenly paying attention. 

"Oh, they're just great. They're organizing a fashion festival in Milan right now, so very busy." 

"Their business still growing strong I see. It couldn't be any other way with you Sinclairs." Grandma Warren commented. 

They spent like half an hour asking her about her parents' business, not even trying to hide where their interests really lay.

And the worst part was that... Kara didn't seem faced by it. Like, at all. 

They barely even saw Sydney, let alone spoke to her. 

Not that Mia was expecting differently. Her and Mia weren't exactly the all american couple like Max and Kara. 

"You make such fitting couple! I always said it. Much more fitting that Max and that reality show girl." 

"Don't even remind me of her mother, please." Mr Warren said, glaring at Max, knowingly. Max didn't look away, like he always did, when his dad challenges him. 

Max and Heather had broken up a couple of months ago. Mia wasn't surprised, really. Heather wasn't exactly the amicable type. Her brother does certainly have a type. However, she always thought they had a rather special thing going on. They seem to get each other, so it was such a shame to think... 

Oh.

How dumb she had been! How didn't she realized it before. But of course they broke up. 

A girl that had her boobs throughly exposed in live tv couldn't possibly join the Warren's ranks, right? 

Max stood up, and went inside. Kara was left alone and uncomfortable. 

"I, I have to..." Mia started. 

"Is okay sweetie, go." Sydney said softly. 

Mia excused herself and followed him. As always, of course. 

She wasn't out of practice for that. 

How long? She thought. How long would her dumb big brother refuse to stop following the Warren pack, and start following his heart, like she did herself.


End file.
